Jeg liker å bo i en stor by.

Norwegian uses the infinitive after verbs like liker.

• å bo = to live (infinitive)
• bor = live / am living (present tense)

So after Jeg liker (I like), you must use the infinitive: Jeg liker å bo … (I like to live / I like living …), not Jeg liker bor ….

å is the infinitive marker, similar to English to in to live, to eat, to read.

In å bo, å doesn’t mean “to” in the sense of direction; it just shows that bo is in the infinitive form.

You use å + infinitive after many verbs of liking, wanting, starting, etc., such as:

• Jeg liker å lese. – I like to read.
• Jeg begynner å jobbe klokka åtte. – I start working at eight.

No. That’s incorrect.

You can have either:

• Infinitive: å bo
• Finite present tense: bor

You cannot combine them like å bor. After å, the verb must be in infinitive form: å bo.

Norwegian distinguishes between two kinds of “live”:

• å bo = to live somewhere / reside (have your home there)
• å leve = to be alive, or live in a certain way (lifestyle, quality of life)

So:

• Jeg liker å bo i en stor by. – I like living (residing) in a big city.
• Jeg liker å leve et enkelt liv. – I like to live a simple life. / I like living simply.

In this sentence, you’re talking about where you live, so å bo is the natural verb.

i usually means in / inside, and på usually means on / at, but which one you use is often idiomatic.

For cities, towns, countries, Norwegian normally uses i:

• i Oslo, i London, i en by, i Norge

So i en stor by is the standard way to say in a big city.
You would not say på en stor by here.

Because by (city/town) is a masculine noun in Norwegian.

Norwegian has three grammatical genders:

• en for masculine nouns (e.g., en by)
• ei for feminine nouns (in Bokmål often also en)
• et for neuter nouns

So you must say:

• en by – a city
  not et by.

Therefore: i en stor by = in a big city.

Adjectives in Norwegian change form depending on gender and number of the noun:

Base form: stor

• Masculine singular indefinite: en stor by
• Feminine singular indefinite: ei stor bok (or en stor bok)
• Neuter singular indefinite: et stort hus
• All plural forms and all definite forms: store (e.g., de store byene)

Because by is masculine singular indefinite (en by), you use stor: en stor by.

You make both the noun and the adjective plural:

• Jeg liker å bo i store byer.
  
  • store = plural form of stor
  • byer = plural of by

So:

• i en stor by – in a big city (one)
• i store byer – in big cities (in general / more than one)

• en stor by = a big city (indefinite, not specified which)
• den store byen = the big city (definite, a particular city you both know about)

Forms:

• by – city (indefinite)
• byen – the city (definite)
• stor by – big city
• store byen → den store byen (you add den and use store for definite)

So you’d say:

• Jeg liker å bo i en stor by. – I like living in a big city (any big city).
• Jeg liker å bo i den store byen. – I like living in the big city (that specific one).

In normal Norwegian, you cannot drop the subject pronoun like that.
You should say: Jeg liker å bo i en stor by.

Leaving out Jeg would sound like a note heading, a slogan, or very informal shorthand (for example in a list), but not a complete, natural sentence in regular speech.

Ikke normally comes after the finite verb (liker).

So:

• Jeg liker ikke å bo i en stor by. – I don’t like living in a big city.

Word order:

• Jeg (subject)
• liker (finite verb)
• ikke (negation)
• å bo i en stor by (rest of the sentence / infinitive phrase)

Liker in the present tense usually expresses a general preference, not just a temporary feeling.

So Jeg liker å bo i en stor by is best understood as:

• I (generally) like living in a big city
  rather than
• I’m liking it right now.

If you want to emphasize a current, temporary situation, you’d normally add context, like:

• Akkurat nå liker jeg å bo i en stor by. – Right now, I like living in a big city.

Yes, but the intensity changes.

• Jeg liker å bo i en stor by. – I like living in a big city.
• Jeg elsker å bo i en stor by. – I love living in a big city. (much stronger)

Another common, slightly softer alternative is:

• Jeg er glad i å bo i en stor by. – I’m fond of living in a big city / I’m really into living in a big city.

Norwegian main clauses normally follow Subject – Verb – (Object / other elements) word order.

Here:

• Jeg – subject
• liker – verb
• å bo i en stor by – what you like (an infinitive phrase functioning like an object)

So the natural order is:
Jeg liker [å bo i en stor by].

You cannot split this randomly; Jeg å bo liker… is ungrammatical.

Very roughly, in a common Eastern Norwegian pronunciation, you might say it like this (written in “English-style” sounds):

• Jeg – like “yai” or “yay” (often closer to “yai”)
• liker – “LEE-ker” (first syllable stressed)
• å – long “oh” sound
• bo – “boo” (long)
• i – “ee” (long)
• en – “en” (often a bit reduced, like “en/uhn”)
• stor – “stoorr” (with a long “oo” like in “door”)
• by – “bee” with rounded lips (closer to French “u”: “bü”)

Spoken smoothly, it becomes something like:
“Yai LEE-ker oh boo ee en stoorr bü.”